Lawrence Toppman
A reader recently told me I should never refer to myself or anyone else as "fat." That word, she said, has too many negative connotations. I should say "overweight," which carries less shame -- and is inoffensively vague, as it can refer to someone five or 500 pounds above his ideal level.
I thought about the state of Georgia, which now posts billboards with pictures of fat children and text that reads "Chubby kids may not outlive their parents" or "Big bones didn't make me this way. Big meals did." I'm not sure humiliation works in an anti-obesity campaign, and this seems to me like bullying. But the opposition to the billboards is led by the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, and the name of that group makes me cringe.
Abusing people because they're fat is as cruel as abusing them because they're black, gay, Islamic or anything else that results from choice or genetic destiny. The adjective shouldn't be equated with "nasty" or "disgusting."
On the other hand, being fat can shorten your life, limit your activity, incommode others and create problems every day. And calling someone "hefty" or "chunky" -- as I was called when I was a rotund boy -- may minimize the need to change. Fat people aren't bad, but there's nothing positive about the condition. Sugar-coating the problem helps nobody.
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9 years ago
1 comments:
Sorry Lawrence, I disagree. While no one should be abused for anything, folks who make active choices setting themselves up for abuse should not be surprised when it occurs. However, we should have a society where nobody should ever be abused for something uncontrollable, like your "genetic destiny" comment, such as race, gender, etc.
Sure, one could argue the fat gene which does exist. However, the fat gene doesn't force slovenly behavior, it doesn't feed you Big Macs and french fries, that's all up to you. Your choices can override the fat gene if you exercise and eat right. You might not have as easy a road as folks without the fat gene, but that decision is up to you.
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